Climate Change in the Philippines

The agriculture sector plays an important role in the economic development of the Philippines, accounting for over 30 percent of total labor and contributing around 10 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP). The Philippines, and particularly its agricultural sector, is highly vulnerable to climate risks and disasters, which have caused great damage to the economic development and GDP from the year 2000 and continue to do so. More appropriate and effective adaptation and mitigation measures will have to be put in place to enhance the economy’s resiliency to climate risks and disasters.

The National Economic and Development Authority of the Philippines (NEDA), and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will organize Climate Change in the Philippines: Scenarios, Policies and Investments in Agriculture, a Policy Forum and Symposium. The event will feature the findings of a three-year research project on addressing the impact of climate change on the Philippine agriculture sector. These findings have been collected in the form of a book entitled "The Future of Philippine Agriculture: Scenarios, Policies, Investments under Climate Change." 

The event and the book are a crucial part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Flagship on Policies and Institutions.

The two-day event will have two main parts:

1. A half-day policy forum where policy recommendations of the research study will be presented and discussed to a limited audience, including high-level government officials such as Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan; key stakeholders in the agriculture sector and related sectors, including those that work on climate change; and the media.
2. A research symposium, where a detailed presentation and discussion of the results and policy recommendations of the different component studies will be undertaken. There will be a press conference about the results of the research study and the book’s soft launch.

Participation is by invitation only. Attendees are encouraged to join in the conversation by using #AgPhilippines on social media.